First Time

[Diver Dan]

First time posting pictures i took with my cannon 40D... I am using a 17-55 mm lens. I got excited about taking some pictures today and forgot to scrape the glass... but here some are.









I still am not an expert photographer, but i think i am getting better, please feel free to critique me!

[Technoviking]

Holy wow is that the same Trever taking pics as before?

[Diver Dan]

LOL
yep, after ninety minutes of watching that digital blue instructional DVD i am here

[stawn]

lookin good

[greyhoundfan]

Very nice........I just got a 40D too.. 17-55 lens is a great lens too.

[sandiegoryu]

You're taking your photos from angles aren't you? Your photos won't turn out as sharp as they can be if you take your photo from an angle to the glass. You should take your photos perpendicular to the glass to get a sharp image. Even though to the naked eye looking at the glass from an angle may look fine, once you go into the 55mm area the distortion becomes a major problem.

I've noticed you have a lot of money. Go get yourself a good external flash. One that you can use wirelessly or with a wire. Go to www.aquaticphotography.com for a lot of help!

[Diver Dan]

You're taking your photos from angles aren't you? Your photos won't turn out as sharp as they can be if you take your photo from an angle to the glass. You should take your photos perpendicular to the glass to get a sharp image. Even though to the naked eye looking at the glass from an angle may look fine, once you go into the 55mm area the distortion becomes a major problem.

I've noticed you have a lot of money. Go get yourself a good external flash. One that you can use wirelessly or with a wire. Go to www.aquaticphotography.com for a lot of help!

Yep, i took the last couple from the bottom looking up to get the surface shimmer/ripple background. But yeah, i know what you are saying, because when i look at the tank from a wide angle everything looks flat.

As for the speed light, i have it it can do both wireless and sit on top of the camera...
Why would you use a flash for reef pictures?

Thanks for the critiques, it is very helpful!

[greyhoundfan]

you got the dream set up..I want the flash and the wireless control to set them off. having a wireless flash transmitter gives you the freedom to place the flash on top of your tank, so the light flash is going down wards instead of hitting the tank the same way you're viewing. Less flash bounce back and the flash will improve your focus as well. The best examples of this is on http://www.aquatic-photography.com/forum/ .. hope it's ok to plug another website.. best pics is to have your fish in the foreground and try to capture it there. The flash will focus on the fish and black out your back ground so long you are taking pics in the dark.

[sandiegoryu]

If you use the flash from above, you'll see why it's awesome. Like directly above the object you're going to take a picture of. Not at an angle. Besides getting awesome photographs, you'll have a much better shutter speed and f-stop. Try it out!

[Diver Dan]

Cleaned off the glass some and took some more, had some micro bubbles from the scraping...
Filter feeding

Cool low F stop picture

Another lyretail

Another Lyretail

Another Lyretail

[sandiegoryu]

Ok I'll show the difference between flash and no flash. If you do it right you can do it so the background is illuminated too.

Without:


With:


Of course it all comes down to preference I guess.

[Diver Dan]

My Custom Shop Strat

[dese]

hey thanks for the beautiful pics... you just convinced my wife to let me buy a new camera....